


Of prey and predators

by yohoapirateslifeforme



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animals, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Femslash, Monetweek, Rare Pairings, They both maybe? Have some more animalish traits, YES ITS A SHIP FIC FOR A THEME WEEK is that legal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-09
Updated: 2016-05-14
Packaged: 2018-06-05 02:31:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6685690
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yohoapirateslifeforme/pseuds/yohoapirateslifeforme
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When a bird and a fish meet...</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The One Where Monet Almost Drowns (also called the prologue)

**Author's Note:**

> These fics are for the @monetweek hosted by @liskosaurus/@sillisko on tumblr!! Check it outtttt ✨✨
> 
>  
> 
> (Rating is what it is since swearing ? But I could change it to general if that's a dumb reason lmao idk I'm new)

Prey /preɪ/  
_noun_

a creature that is hunted and killed for food by another animal

 

Predator / _'pred·ə·t̬ər/_  
_noun_

an animal that hunts and kills other animals for food

 

[ http://dictionary.cambridge.org ]

 

》》》》》》

 

 

The spruce is 90 feet tall, and Monet sits on top of it all; a fair slice of the great Grand Line opens before the big, birdlike creature licking her lips.

 

The predator has spotted its prey.

 

A moderately large, bright-pink tail fin is reflected on the turquoise water. The fish is abnormally small in terms of the usual fish-scale of the magnificently colossal sea, but it’s just the right size to work as a light meal for one.

 

The wind is non-existent and the Sun is settling down.

 

A splash in the water, and Monet jumps.

 

It only takes around 10 seconds or less for the bird to scrape the water with her claws, and less of a four more for the coral tail to smack Monet across her face, genuinely blinding her for a moment and making panic rise in her throat.

 

Everything happens in mere minutes, blurry lines crossing her mind and water breaking in and over her. The salt of the seawater stings her eyes and she can’t move and she can’t breathe; her heavy feathers along the crippling side-effect of the Fruit dragging her down with raising speed - and there are hands around her middle that are most definitely not hers.

 

* * *

 

Monet wakes up to the feeling of land under her body, turns onto her side and coughs up what feels like buckets worth of water.

 

She feels heavy and so do her eyes. The stinging of them has yet ceased, but the bird ignores it and tries to focus on breathing steady instead.

 

A hysteric voice right behind her and alarmingly close to her ear finally forces the harpy to crack her eyes open.

 

“Ohh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh-”

 

Monet rolls over on to her back, eyes confused, still irritated from the salt and mouth in a thin, startled line. Her wings shoot wide to her sides and the creature, no the mermaid, with a pink tail and hair a lighter green than hers, pulls herself a tad farther from Monet; she had been studying Monet’s face really close while she had been unconscious. Her face is in a comical state of shock, and the bird oddly feels her own expression soften.

 

The mermaid is looking frantically up and around the small strip of land that she presumably has dragged Monet to from the water. From where Monet is laying down, she can only make out the tops of some of the taller trees, and bushes beside her head.

 

Pinktail is still squirming in place and it seems to Monet that she doesn't know how to act next. Maybe she was not prepared for the harpy to wake up anymore, least not as fast as it had felt for Monet.

 

Eventually the mermaid locks her gaze with the bird, who has been staring at her losing her mind for a while now, and freezes.

 

Monet nods her head in a quick gesture and never breaks eye contact, “Whaddup.”

 

_Smooth._

 

Her reaction takes a moment, and even then Monet's not ready for it. As the mermaid lets her eyes wander away from the other, and her fin-like ears and pointy nose _flush_ , Monet feels a funny warmth pool and prickle in her abdomen like a swarm of angry bees, and she gets a sudden urge to sit up straight, next to this stranger who had saved her life, despite her true intentions behind the situation.

 

The irony of the setting hits her only now, and while simultaneously trying to push her heavy body up rather awkwardly, she flashes a toothy grin without thinking. And when she _does_ get her head around the set-up - a prey and a predator, and teeth equals death - the sharp, white fangs have already caught pinktail’s attention. And this time she comes forward instead of backing away.

 

Her eyes _sparkle_ , “Can I see those again?”

 

“Shouldn’t you least be buying me a drink first?”

 

The mermaid snorts and covers her mouth with the back of her scaly hand.

 

“Gosh, I'm so sorry, you’re absolutely right. I was being rude, you don’t even know me. My name is Keimi,” she extends her arm enthusiastically at the bird, completely ignoring the fact that this exact vulture had tried to eat her only moments ago.

 

Monet is sitting up now, but the water soaked in her feathers prevents her from lifting her wing up sleekly enough as to embrace Keimi’s welcoming hand. Keimi notices this, and distress reappears to her features.

 

“OH YEAH, oh no I forgOT-!”

 

Monet doesn't end up waiting for the other to regain her composure this time; instead she exclaims a loud ‘STOP’ and makes the re-panicking mermaid fall backside first to the water from the shore which they are still dangerously close to. When Keimi’s green hair and big eyes break the surface again, she seems embarrassed and has this kind of exposed and airy look in her eyes. Monet sighs.

 

“Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you like that, pinktail,” her own eyes half-lidded and smirking, the bird waves a winged arm apologetically, “How 'bout giving me a hand now, okay, relax.” Dark arms push the rest of Keimi’s body up from the water as she hops on dry land.

 

“So you know how to deal with an ordeal like this?”

 

“Obviously. Not my first time on the brink of drowning. Duh,” Monet huffs jokingly, “I just need a little help organizing my feathers. And also drying them off, though that’s gonna be difficult. Unless you’d happen to have a towel or the like hidden here somewhere?”

 

“Uhm! No, sorry, I don’t actually know where we are right now. What did you say your name was?” Keimi has tugged her body quite fast and without any apparent problem next to Monet, and she's started to thrash out the green feathers. Surprisingly, she’s not being shy about it but rather very, _very_ careful with them, Monet can tell. The mermaid doesn't look Monet in the eyes when she asks for her name, and then her seemingly sharp tongue sticks out her mouth slightly. _Absolutely endearing…_

 

“I didn’t. The name's Monet. Surely you’ve already realized that I’m a harpy, and sorry about earlier I guess. Pleased to meetcha."

 

Keimi doesn’t say anything to that, just nods and continues her precise job with the feathers, like this was just another Monday for her. To Monet it looks as if she'd done this before, even fluffing the feathers up while going further with the wing. It makes the bird feel nice and almost cozy, if disregarding the soaked rest of her body, and she notices her body relax to the gentle touch. With that however, she gets cold shivers as Keimi's nails scrape the skin under the feather covering, and Keimi stops suddenly.

 

“I’m not hurting you, right?” Keimi asks, smooths out two, three jutting quills and gives Monet a worried look. Her fishy eyes grow even bigger, and Monet wonders idly if it were possible for them to actually pop out.

 

“Nah, I’m fine. Just feels weird,” she assures the mermaid, who then continues her work, looking down. Monet finds herself staring yet again, and finally Keimi must feel the eyes on her, and lifts her head up.

 

“What.”

 

“Have you encountered a drenched harpy before, or are you just a fast learner?”

 

She cracks a hearty, snorty laugh and throws her head softly back, “I couldn’t have possibly done that, silly! Mermaids tend to not seek the presence of harpies, or other predators for the matter. We smart like that,” saying this she flicks her head once around and taps a finger to her temple, and winks at Monet. “No no, I’ve had to save multiple small birds from water in my life, had to learn to take care of them afterwards too.”

 

"Sure didn't seem like that a minute ago."

 

"Oh, shut up you," she says it without a beat of irritation - nor hesitation - in her tone, so Monet keeps smiling teasingly at her.

 

Then they fall in a rather thoughtful silence. Monet tries (and fails) to dry her legs and hair with a single wing, but in the end gives up and instead looks over her shoulder, taking in the view of the isle she will probably inhabit for a while.

 

It’s easy to tell that the island is meager in size, probably not even mapped out. There are colorful trees and plants all around surrounding them, and Monet assumes that they are either on an autumn or a spring island.

 

“Do you live somewhere close?”

 

Monet turns her head to Keimi, who has now stopped working on the feathers, instead looking at her. They seem to be quite untangled already on that wing and Monet is ever-so grateful for this.

 

“No, I don’t. I actually live pretty far from here, on an island called Punk Hazard. What about you Pinkie,” she places a loose feather playfully on top of Keimi’s head, “where do you keep a home?”

 

Without taking the soft-green plume away, Keimi slams her hands on her lap happily, “I live far from here too! Fishman Island, in an apartment with my two best friends! Can you believe what a coincidence, that we both ended up here at the same time and became pals, even if neither of us lives here? Hatchan and Pappug, the friends I live with, are really fun and Hatchan makes the best takoyaki I’ve ever eaten, Pappug on the other hand is a very talented designer for a starfish. I mean have you _ever_ heard of a starfish that can talk and design clothes, isn’t that just simply mad?”

 

Monet is taken aback at first, but soon recovers and intently keeps listening as Keimi continues her tale.

 

“.. the first time we tried to catch octopuses together, you know for the takoyaki, Hatchan suddenly lost consciousness for an hour! We were so worried about him we wholly forgot the reason we even were there in the first place, and took our leave, carrying Hatchan the whole way to our apartment. Nowadays he doesn’t black out anymore, but we never really talked about it afterwards and I still wonder about it..”

 

Taking in all this enthusiastic talk about her new acquaintance's friends and life makes Monet drift off slowly; it’s almost dark now, and all the things that had happened today considering, she’s surprised she still hangs on the edge of wakefulness. Her other wing is still a mess, and her clothes and feathers should have been dryer, but Monet can’t find it in her to care enough at the moment.

 

Keimi’s voice drowns out the rest of the world, and just as she's about to give in and close her eyes, Keimi jabs a pointy fingernail to her forehead.

 

“Hey, Mo- miss Monet? Are you feeling alright?”

 

“Yeah yeah, I’m good. I'm just getting sleepy.”

 

“I can go and gather some hay or leafs from the forest, to make a makeshift bed with so you won't get cold–”

 

“Nooo, no no, don't do that. You don’t need to do that. Here,” Monet yawns, lays down calmly and opens her arms wide, “come 'ere. Body heat and all that, though I’m not sure how it works among fish. But let’s figure that out shall we. And the rest of all _this_ ," she gestures with the apex of her wing between the two of them, "in the morning, ok. It’s been a rough day for the both of us.”

 

Keimi blushes an alarmingly dark red that spreads all the way to her shoulders and chest, and she stutters like she’s about to say something, but Monet isn't paying attention now. She has her eyes closed, waiting patiently. She doesn't in any level expect for the fish to magically loose all her common and animal senses, and just drop dead next to her obediently.

 

As a moment passes, Monet is almost certain that the mermaid won’t do as she suggested, and huffs out a defeated sigh. Then there is without a warning, something chilly on top of her wet wing and a seaweedy scent stronger than ever in the air, and warmth really does pool again in her frigid body; this time not only in the pit of her stomach, but it shoots from one spot to another and escalates throughout in no time. Keimi is laying there, as close as she probably withstands and her slick scaly skin is in immediate contact with Monet’s soft under-feathers. Monet can hardly believe that this is happening, and from the stiffness of the other, she presumes that Keimi can't either.

 

Monet can’t keep herself in check, and even when she _knows_ it’s odd and seemingly wrong, and her position is awkward for it, the vulture cranes her neck close to Keimi’s head and almost instinctively sniffs her hair imperceptibly. She mostly smells of the sea and sand, but also of something fruity and tropical. Monet would describe the scent as 'colorful’ or 'fun'. And–

 

“You smell fishy..”

 

“Huh? Did you say something?”

 

“I was wondering if you were asleep already!!” She yelps helplessly and ponders how many blurts it will take till her companion starts to question it.

 

“I’m not going to sleep yet, I’ll wait till you do. I don’t wanna end up having to deal with a, uhm. _Dead bird_ in the morning if I’m not warm enough to keep you alive,” she laughs uncomfortably and looks away in panic, which just makes Monet smirk again.

 

“Aww, you care about me! That’s embarrassing,” Monet manages to slur out smugly, “but as we are right now, you’re already about to spend your night alongside a predator - like the prey you are -, and I’m literally gonna 'sleep with the fishes'. Not really a good combination. Alrighty then, sweet dreams!” She bumps the dumbfounded Keimi very gingerly on the head with her own, turns her cheek and without a second thought, lets her body drift off in a heartbeat.

 

And that night she dreamt of takoyaki and light purple waters with bright, pink kissing gouramis.

 

 


	2. DAY ONE - Friends and family

 

It was the morning after, and Monet had no memory left from the vivid coral setting of the dream she had been dreaming the whole last night, nor the things she had said before falling asleep. She didn't feel cold anymore; instead, she woke to rays of sunlight flickering on her eyelids, simultaneously coating her in a thick layer of sweat. But with further inspection, she noted the humanly warmth that had wrapped around her torso, and that it was _it_ keeping her temperature up. _Sugar...?_

 

Then a large fin swatted against her legs and she remembered -  _oh yeah, shit, Keimi_.

 

"Um," she started, but cut herself off. After inspecting the situation, she decided that she wanted to bask in the feeling a while longer; the feeling of someone being close, of being warm - but even if _she_ was warm, she had a gnawing doubt that Keimi was too.

 

The way Keimi had snug against Monet made the bird smile restfully. Keimi was laying on her stomach, one arm folded under her head, and the other hugging Monet surprisingly tight -Monet could now see where the small mermaid had gotten the strength to drag Monet's tall frame out of the water. Her arms weren't exactly muscular, but what at first glance seemed to be nothing but adorable chub on her arms (and belly!), turned out to be toughness transmitted from physical labor if nothing else, or that's what the grip suggested.

 

The harpy listened to the other girl's soft snoring until half an hour had passed, and she _really_ had to get up.

 

"Hey. Fish," she tried her very best to gently remove Keimi's hand away; the fact that the arm was heavy and directly above her bladder not helping her case, "Keimi wake up I gotta pee."

 

There were no signs of her waking up, but to Monet's relief Keimi's arm slumped from the grasp and she could peel it away. It was with a lot of struggle that she got up with the soggy feathers of her one wing, and made her one-sided way to the sparse woods, long legs lifting and dragging hastily.

 

* * *

 

While in the forest, it came to Monet's attention that her powers - the power of her Devil Fruit, that is - did not work quite like they were supposed to. She had tried to form a snowball, just to see if the swimming trip had done any prominent damage, and she had ended up with a handful of icy water as the snow had melted right away. But in all honesty, she was not even that worried about it; she still had 'a fuckton' of water hidden in the recesses of her quills and that alone could easily be the cause. She was also mentally exhausted so she blamed that, too.

Flying, on that matter, was not an option either.

 

 

Keimi had woken up when Monet came back with twigs on her hair and mud on her shirt. She was standing on her tail fin, looking perplexedly at the sky.

 

"Yo! What are you looking at?"

 

"I'm looking for - Ah! Miss Monet!" Keimi squealed and clasped her hands together, "There you are, when did you wake up... and why do you look so rugged, oh dear-" she then made her way to Monet, who came halfway to the other, shrugging as if it was nothing.

 

"Ran into technical difficulties. Or more specifically, I'm now aware that flying home is out of question for the time being."

 

Keimi gasped and her hands shot to her cheeks, "How awful! Goodness, how can that even be possible, you poor thing..."

 

"Aw shucks, well. Laying down for the night and letting the soil soak the water probably helped a little, it usually does, but I still can't. Y'know, coordinate well. Nor fly that high,"

 

"That settles it then," Keimi huffed and looked rather determined, "I'm going to stay here with you, and take care of you till I know you're completely dried off and haven't died for a lack of nutrition. Speaking of which, I should go looking for food now."

 

Keimi drifted off and was seemingly ready to leave for the forest, but before that Monet needed to inquire her something.

 

"How can you just promise me something like this? Don't you have your friends to go back to, they're going to be worried sick."

 

"Oh they won't mind, they're used to me being away for long periods of time. I have a habit of getting eaten by sea kings, so they will just assume that and wait patiently."

 

It was the way Keimi beamed while saying it that didn't wholly raise assurance in Monet.

 

"I'm more worried about you, to be honest. You _are_ the one that can't leave even if she wanted to. You're basically stuck here, and if I don't stay you'll be left all alone," Keimi said and continued thoughtfully, a sad smile on her lips, "You must also have friends or family who wait for you to come back home, don't you?"

 

Monet grinned again, touched by the fish's worry, "Ha, they know that I'm a big girl and can take care of myself, probably won't even notice I'm gone. I don't spend much time at home in the first place, anyway."

 

"And who are they, exactly? If you don't mind me asking," she amplified hastily when Monet raised an eyebrow.

 

Monet took the twigs off of her wings, flattening the feathers yet again, and thought about her answer.

 

"There's Law, a colleague of mine. He's a human, a surgeon. He's a strange person, always fun to tease though. I believe he has killed a man," Keimi made a relatively startled noise to this, "Doflamingo. He is, ah. A _very,_ dear individual to me. But he doesn't live in Punk Hazard and we only see few times a month, so that's. That's a bummer, hah," she drew a breath and reminisced for a second. "There are some others too, like Caesar, who's a bit mad, but overall I don't have that close relations to much anyone... at the moment at least."

 

Keimi seemed to assume for the storytime to be over now, but she didn't manage to even start a new sentence, when Monet continued as an afterthought, "And Sugar. Sugar's my little sister."

 

In a blink of an eye Keimi was shaking, and she made a high pitched, excited voice in the back of her throat.

 

"You have a sister? A little sister!?" Hands found their way to Monet's shoulder and Keimi shook her slightly, "You have no idea, oh I've always wanted to be a big sister, can you please, _please_ tell me about her?"

 

"Uh,"

 

And Monet did not know where to start.

 

"She's eight years younger than me, the shortest little thing, I could carry her solely on my one wing. She's obviously also a harpy, but she ain't that big on meat," the bird sat down, wrapping herself with her wings. It was a windy morning, "She prefers fruit. And cold weather," Keimi followed the other's example, sitting on her tail and leaning her chin on top of her balled fists. 

 

"Sugar is the smartest kid. She's actually the reason that I discovered my allergies of pine nut, buttercup squash and almond. Even Law - a self-proclaimed 'doctor', couldn't tell. I had had an awful, burning rash for the past week and he disregarded it with a lousy 'it's just sunburn'. Sunburn my _ass_ , Law has _never_ went to a medical school..." the bird said bitterly; Keimi just giggled.

 

"She's really crafty, even if her wings should make it difficult. She mostly builds kids' games, like wooden toys and toys from scrap metal and plastic, and once she even came across these old, broken green bottles and from them she made me a pair of - _oh no_."

 

"What, what is it," and instantly Keimi was back on her skin. She truly was a _t_ _ouchy_ person.

 

"My, my glasses, I don't have them anymore. I didn't notice yesterday, I must have lost them when I hit the water. Oh _no,_ " she gnarled, "I'm never seeing those again,"

 

"Oh miss Monet, I'm so sorry! You must have treasured those greatly," Keimi ran her slick hands repeatedly over Monet's bicep muscles covered in soft fuzz, "Your sister made those glasses for you, didn't she?"

 

"She did," she groaned gloomily, "She's gonna be so disappointed when I come back home, she spent almost three weeks making them. Man I  _loved_ those glasses,"

 

Keimi kept staring at her, eyes glum for the sake of the other and hands still moving slowly, "So what did they look like?"

 

"Round, thick and bottle green. Sugar had carved my name on the left temple, and the lenses had a swirly, reflective design. The bottles she'd found were quite unusual, I'd say,"

 

Monet didn't noticed it herself, but she must have sounded really upset, as Keimi then did something that would have felt weird and impulsive, maybe even rude to Monet, if the mermaid hadn't already spent a night sleeping next to the harpy. She pulled Monet in a tight embrace, buried her face on her hair and breathed breezily while brushing her back. And soon she let go, bashful and red-faced, and pushed Monet away.

 

"THAT WAS _SUPER_ OUT OF LINE OF ME, WOW, EXCUSE ME-"

 

"Last night I noted that you smell pretty funky, like some fancy perfume would on a fishing boat,"

 

Keimi shut up and winded sniffing her forearm, looking at the bird wide-eyed.

 

"Now THAT was out of line - and disturbing, my apologies. Comforting someone is never. I appreciate your effort, but I'm okay. I mean yeah this sucks _major_  ass, but there's nothing I can do about the glasses now, they've most likely hit the rocks long ago and broken. I'll have to make it up to Sugar somehow, but that's a concern for another day. Has anyone ever told you you're like the most warmest person to sleep next to?"

 

By now poor Keimi was utterly overwhelmed, and her first reaction was to laugh her thick discomfort away with weak protests consisting of 'what are you talking about' and 'how could you know', till she gave in and hid her face in her hands.

 

"I'm sorry, miss Monet, I should have told you that I'm a clingy sleeper! I probably made you really uncomfortable last night, but I just kinda forgot and it was all so sudden and strange, and I can't exactly help it," her voice kept falling till she was muttering in her palms.

 

Monet stood up abruptly, bringing her wings to her hips. She breathed out once and presented Keimi with her best look of attachment mixed with woe, "Keimi calm down, please, everything's cool. Sugar also likes to cling to and sleep next to me, even if she denies it in the morning. I like it, beats sleeping alone all cold, lonely and sad. Besides that was what I needed, right? Body heat, look, I'm not dead. You make a great big spoon, even if it we were positioned somewhat uneven. Come, let's go seek for breakfast," her voice didn't leave room for questions, and Keimi found herself following the harpy without a second thought, though she still felt embarrassed of how big of a deal she had made it. _Of course miss Monet would be fine with it. She's so cool..._ She jumped forward to the tall bird, hanging onto the damper of the two wings with a familiar look of delight back on her features.

 

"Miss Monet! Could you tell me more about your friends, I feel that mister Law must have a rather 'edgy' personality, don't you agree.."

 


	3. DAY TWO - Fashionable bird

 

Monet lead their way deep to the unknown forest. They saw animals and abnormal plants, and all of those things (plus bugs) came along with them, following the fruity and salty smell of the pair or just by getting stuck in their clothes and hair. Monet had just managed to rip an armadillo-like insect away from her hair and thrown it to the bushes, when Keimi, walking behind the bird, asked her to slow down and wait.

 

"What's up?"

 

"Hold on, I gotta do something. I can't continue on this slow pace anymore," and Keimi proceeded to draw off her yellow backbag - that Monet had  _completely_ missed up till now - and dug out a piece of coral. She pressed something on the end of the item, and from a hole in the coral started to erupt a large bubble in a way that was unlike anything the bird had seen before. It seemed like the bubble had first been whole, and then it was suppressed in tight pressure inside the coral, and pressing the end of it made the bubble disengage. Soon enough it popped off the coral and was left floating and bouncing midair on their eye level.

 

"What the shit,"

 

Climbing to sit atop the balloon, Keimi shoot Monet with a skeptical look. “Ohh, that’s right! Of course you wouldn’t know of these!”

 

"Know of _what_ , what am I looking at here?"

 

“It’s a mode of transportation for mermaids! As some, well most of us can’t walk on land -I mean we can, as you saw, but jumping like that is  _very_  slow, tiring and in the end only a waste of energy, so we use these while on land. Or it's not like we even gotta be on land, these work underwater too! It’s called bubbly coral, it's exactly what the name suggests. Would you like to try it too?”.

 

Monet made a mental note on how the mermaid loved to speak about things dear to her or those that hit close to home in extreme detail, and decided to try and ask her multiple questions while she still had such a chance. Keimi had the kind of high pitched voice, fast output and bright attitude that were unusual and bewitching features for Monet. Those had caught her interests in the short amount of time they had known and got to know each other, and it made things turn in her internals. Traits as these were usually rare in Punk Hazard, even then she only came upon them with Sugar.

 

"Well, I guess I could try it," Monet consented finally, and curiously poked the bubble Keimi was already sitting on. It didn't burst, but simply made a funny, almost elastic sound, "The mechanism within the coral, how does it work? I got an impression that it could be quite advanced in technology. And the bubble is dry, but isn't this made of soap water?" She was now asking solely for the sake of engineering purposes.

 

“Hah, funny thing … I never paid too much attention when we were taught about the workings of bubble corals,” Keimi rubbed her neck ashamedly, “and I only know that the bubbles are constructed of some organic ingredients from Sabaody Archipelago. Sorry I’m not much of an informant, there aren't even any books about these for me to give you. Fishman Island tends to keep quiet to the outside world, you must know of that, ”

 

Monet was hooked by a sense of disappointment over that fact, but the upset tone of Keimi’s voice made an even more unpleasant feeling overthrow that sensation. In addition, the mermaid’s grieved voice also made the funny, fuzzy warmth that she had stirred in the bird earlier lessen and lessen, and Monet wanted none of that, “Hey, that’s totally ok, no need to, uh, get upset over that,”

 

Keimi twiddled with the coral in her hands, and her face suggested that she was maybe trying to obtain courage to add something, but in the end didn't do so; she extended her arm with the piece of marine invertebrate to Monet, who then took it.

 

"So the usage is very simple, you just have to press the knob in the bottom - yeah that's it - and then keep pressing it till the bubble is as large as you want it. My coral is kind of an old model, but there are other kinds too, those which work faster and the soap bubbles are more sturdy et cetera; bubbly corals like that are mostly used by soldiers though, or really rich and important merpeople. Oh, that's a splendid bubble for a first timer! My first one was all kinds of lumpy and slick, haha," Monet didn't quite catch the part where she did anything regarding how the balloon would shape nor the texture change, but Keimi explained it shortly, "I forgot to say, but with this older model you need to do these small lil' gestures to make the final bubble good, things like a flick of your wrist or something like that. You catch'd on pretty quick!"

 

The praise got Monet feeling bashful and looking away in order to hide her face, "Oh well, yeah, I mean I _must_ say that this is positively a result of some great craftsmanship, to make something so complex into a device so simple and it still works and, so now I just like jump on it and that's it, right?" Her voice grew unexpectedly high as she tried to get the sentence out fast as possible and ran out of air. Keimi watched her with mild confusion, but smiled nevertheless.

 

"Yes, climb on! By the way you have another beetle-armadillo in your hair,"

 

* * *

 

Getting on top of the strange soap bubble should have been a piece of cake for a creature as tall as Monet, but the unsteadiness of it combined with the difficulty in her balance in general made it ever so troublesome, that she decided against trying out the bubble. Good thing she had long legs so she didn't get left behind.

 

The two of them made idle chat on their way further and further to the darkening forest with spots and splashes of light coming from the small openings in the otherwise solid treetops. As they had no destination or hurry, they hardly noticed their surroundings anymore nor the change in atmosphere. Monet was first to see rain starting to drop.

 

"Fuck!"

 

Rain really started to pour in after mere seconds of that. Without much thought other than 'I cannot deal with another batch of wet feathers', Monet wrapped her hand-wing in Keimi's, and started running forward and practically dragging the mermaid sitting atop the balloon.

 

While running, she had already felt her shirt and pants get stuck in sticks and branches, ripping holes in them and she cursed some more.

 

After a solid five minutes of rushing from the weather, Keimi spotted a mouth of a cave hidden behind a plantation of unnaturally large rhubarb leaves, and Monet led them there.

 

The cave was tiny and narrow, high enough that Keimi (around 5 feet tall, Monet's guess) could stand straight on her tail, but Monet (6'3 feet) was struggling, to put it lightly. Keimi didn't stall at all when they got inside; she had been pulling still-dry prunes and plants on their way there and now she was arranging those in a shape of a bonfire. She ripped wooden roots from outside the cave and picked two large rubble stones that had been broken off the walls. She beat those two against one-another and sparks flew around in no time. Monet kept silent on the sidelines, mesmerized by the efficiency Keimi displayed. If she had been alone, she would still be grizzling over the lack of fuel trade.

 

"Miss Monet, do huddle closer. I don't want you to catch a cold on top of everything else. Did your feathers get wet again, do you - "

 

Keimi's face stiffened abruptly, and Monet - already aware of the fish's over-reactive personality - calmly looked down herself, and finally faced the damage the forest had done to her clothing. Her striped leggings were muddy and had cuts through them, and she had even drawn some blood. The top with the word 'HAPPY' written over the chest was also in quite the same condition. Keimi had whipped out her yellow knapsack as Monet was denouncing the destruction of her attire, and was pulling out something from there.

 

"Here," Keimi offered a long piece of cloth to the bird, who viewed it curiously, "change into this first, I think I have a shirt somewhere here too,"

 

"Wh- why do you carry a four foot long skirt with you," she stared at the light pink maxi skirt that laid in her wings and the mermaid in turn. Keimi waved her hand at her dismissively and urged the taller to just change into the garment. Monet did as she was told and started to disrobe away from the pants.

 

"WAIT, wait oh- gosh wait, sorry, I'll go out so you get to change in peace," Keimi yelped.

 

Monet gazed the fish for a good while, slowly piecing out their positions, "But it's raining out there,"

 

"Yes," she said, very gradually, and Monet felt like an idiot, "and I'm a mermaid. I'm not made of sugar, miss Monet, you must be confusing me to someone else. Take this, try if it fits you," Keimi handed her a navy blue shirt from the yellow sack, which she then threw to her back. Lifting a hand she disappeared to the pouring rain in an almost eager manner, and Monet was left in the small cave with a bonfire and two new articles of clothing that were unlikely to fit her very well. 

 

* * *

 

Monet had been right.

 

It was a struggle itself to get her wings through the armholes fit for the petite mermaid (thankfully the tee had a zipper on the front and she didn't need to worry about her head fitting the collar - it was a funny design, but handy for a harpy), but even ripping her own clothes off her clammy skin had been painful.

 

There weren't much left of those anymore, so to say.

 

The skirt was delightfully loose and lengthy that it fit to Monet like a glove, but the same could not be said of the modish tee-shirt, that looked more like a tight crop top now. A very  _unpleasantly tight_ crop top.

 

Monet hooted for the mermaid from the cave's 'doorway' once she was ready. She didn't see anything from behind the wall of water hitting the ground right before her eyes, but a merry sound was approaching her, and she backed right to the back of their rain hide.

 

Keimi busted in, humming a cheery note and grinning form ear to ear. She greeted Monet and squeezed her shirt dry. The material seemed rubbery, so it must've been waterproof. 

 

"Man, I love it when it rains! It's a downer that you couldn't come with me, I found some really big worms and maggots back there. You were really missing out, but do not fret! I bought some with me, look how chubby this one is!"

 

"Do you only like the rain since you're a mermaid?"

 

"That's kinda the only simple reason I can come up with, but it's honestly a bigger deal than just that," Keimi arranged the five caterpillars in a row close to the fire, "My skin gets horribly dry and sandy and gross if I'm out of water for a long time, and it even hurts a tad; the sand gets under the scales, y'see, and that is _not_ a pleasant feeling," she got shivers from just thinking about it, but eventually managed to take a good look at Monet in her new getup.

 

Keimi gulped and wheezed and a "wow, you look hot" escaped from her lips, and Monet promptly choked on her own spit.

 

Between coughs she managed to mutter a 'thank you' of sorts, and even crack a joke about how she 'knows she does' and 'definitely feels "broiling" haha I have a hard time breathing', and after she'd calmed down and they could both laugh at the difference in their sizes, Monet took a silent minute in the back of her mind to really take in the moment. She was sitting in a diminutive space with a mermaid who was emitting cool air and warm feelings at the same time towards her, around an impromptu bonfire along a handful of fat worms roasting on the side of it. And even if her lungs felt aching and she had never gotten used to dresses, and she had no idea how long the rain would continue, she would rather not be anywhere else at this exact moment but here.

 


	4. DAY (THREE&)FOUR - (Day off and) Color!Monet

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How does this bird know what "2 truths and a lie" is,,,,, this chapter is a trademark mess and full of gasps and "breath drawings", god.
> 
>  
> 
> Combined these two prompts; I was busy on wednesday so I didn't exactly have time to write to the 'day off', and like. Isn't this whole fic kind of a day off....¿? Ok great

 

As the rain continued, Monet decided to take action regarding her plan of getting to know the cheerful mermaid better. Both the bird and the fish got warm and dry in no time and Monet proposed a game of 'two truths and a lie'.

 

"I've never heard of a game like that," 

 

"It's a classic get-to-know-you icebreaker, pretty fun in my opinion. I bonded over this with many new peeps, or tried to at least," and she gladly explained the rules of the simple game for Keimi. She understood easily, and thus they could start. Monet went first.

 

"One: I have over ten plants at home, two: I own three robes. Three: I love gambling," she counted her claims on the gravel with short lines and Keimi stared down those with a pondering expression.

 

"Well... you seem to be the kind of person to like gambling, I feel you'd like to take risks. And you're, y'know, _dangerous_  like that so I'm betting that that one's a truth," she was doodling a small caricature of a flying bird on the ground next to Monet's lines while answering, and took a glimpse at the harpy. _She also has a great poker face._

 

"Aaand. Robes. Those are hecka fancy, unless they are - what was it - bathrobes. You're fancy, robes would look cool on you; robes are also long and you're the tallest person I've met in my life. You own three robes,"

 

"Keimi! Damn!! What the hell, how are you so good at this already?!" Monet laughed, pulling the tight shirt lower yet again. It would have been one of the cutest things she had ever worn if it came in her size.

 

"Ahah, did I get it right?" Keimi asked hesitantly but proud of getting it on the first try. "I mean I was just throwing ideas in air, I think you could easily have plants at your house too, for the matter,"

 

"Actually I kinda lied there. I do have plants, but they are mostly cacti and other dry landscape flowers. My fave are sea hollies! And I mean, there's only eight of them and they're easy to take care of since. Cacti," Monet corrected demonstrating the plants with odd hand gestures and Keimi chuckled at the trouble the bird had describing the obvious.

 

"Okay, my turn now!"

 

* * *

 

 

In the end there were no winners in the game (though Monet believed that Keimi had gotten more guesses right), and they had got lost talking about all the similarities between their species, and the best ways to tell poisonous plants apart from the edible ones. Monet started to feel like an old lady meeting with a friend on her way to the marketplace, and cut off the topic by shoving her wing almost on Keimi's face as she saw the rain starting to subside.

 

"Hey, I think I can handle this little rain already. Wanna go scrutinize some more?"

 

Keimi jumped up from where she was sitting, "Yep!"

 

They ripped two sodden rhubarb leaves and placed those on to the remains of their fire, securing the place from possible fire damage before they left. The humid, fresh smell of the forest and all of its greens slapped them both powerfully on their faces and Monet could feel the cleanse from it happening in her respiratory tracts. She didn't care for rain as it _was_ (aka raining), but the crisp chillness after it was what made the whole deal worth enduring through. Keimi had made a new soap bubble to travel with and was currently trying to climb on it.

 

The mermaid had some problems though. As the land was wet, it was slippery, and mixed with Keimi's sleek skin it was hard for her to jump to the floating bubble. When departing the cave Monet had immediately drifted towards a bush that she saw was filled with butter-colored and star shaped berries, but turned around and jogged over right after noticing Keimi's distress.

 

"Need some help there Pinkie?" And without waiting for an answer, she enfolded the short girl circumspectly in her wings and lifted her up.

 

Keimi jolted and accidentally threw the coral in the air and bumped the balloon with her tail when Monet surprised her. The bubble floated away and the coral piece fell to the ground, spilling in tiny little crumbs before their dumbly gaping eyes.

 

"Uh."

 

"Um -I really didn't mean to. Really didn't mean for that to happen,"

 

So they did what was smart in the moment.

 

They stood their ground for a few heartbeats, Keimi partially hanging with her own strength, gripping Monet's wings, and partially being kept up by Monet who literally wanted to be buried right about now. _Why am I still holding her like this? Why did I do this in tHE FIRST PLACE?_

 

"So," Monet started blankly, "how much do I owe you?"

 

"Oh no no no, miss Monet, please don't feel like you'd have to pay for anything! I said it earlier, didn't I," Keimi twisted to face Monet and waved her hands between their faces. She wasn't holding on to anything, so Monet felt of vital importance to hold her even more secure, ending up hugging her very strongly. Keimi didn't seem to mind that, "It was an old model! I've been meaning to buy a new, but Hatchan always said that I shouldn't buy anything I already have, unless it's vital. And I've also been saving for this! So all is good!"

 

Monet was listening to Keimi with her ears flush from shame, but she also felt that she would start sweating and blushing for other reasons entirely, so she lowered the mermaid back to the ground. Keimi smiled in a supportive kind of way up to Monet, which just made her feel worse about what had happened. Keimi was being almost too nice about what had happened for Monet to believe that she was a real person, "But holy fuck Keimi, I'm so sorry for this," she said sincerely.

 

"It's all good, miss Monet. Should we leave then, there is still lots of things for us to discover," her smile was still like a radiating star and her eyes shone with it and Monet almost teared up.

 

"Well _alright_ then if you _insist_  that it's ok. But I'm DEFINITELY going to carry you around on my back for the rest of our stay for that! So hop on!"

 

* * *

 

 

Keimi agreed to be carried by Monet on their way to explore the island, so she climbed on the bird's back and took hold of her shoulders. Monet made Keimi a sort of a nest-like area on her back by putting her wings around her so she could lean on them, and started to move forward yet again. Only after their departure from the cave and the coral shreds, Keimi remembered how _Monet_ was the one who had been through some rough stuff and unpleasantness, and how she _'definitely shouldn't be the one carrying me in your condition, let me down this instant, miss Monet'_. Monet simply barked a sharp laugh at that.

 

"Don't tell me you're starting to doubt my strength now, Pinkie,"

 

Keimi utterly denied that, and the matter was left aside. Keimi barely weighted anything to the bird, who was secretly just happy to be able to feel Keimi's warm breathing on her cheek and the soft body on her back. And to show off to her too, yeah.

 

 

The soil beneath Monet's feet had been soggy and soft, until after some time when they came to an open area where the mud turned to small rocks and sand, and the whole place was bathing in sunshine. It looked so serene there that they decided to stay for a while, and Keimi dropped herself off of Monet's back.

 

"Miss Monet, look, over there. Are those pineapples and pears growing from the same bush?" And she was right. Upon closer investigation they couldn't be seeing things anymore; the knee-high bush grew pears and pineapples in it, but also blueberries and pomegranates among other fruits. There were a dozen bushes in one pile, and they all seemed to be filled to the brim with mixed-up crops.

 

"How does this plant _grow_ like this.." Monet wondered aloud.

 

Then in much similar fashion to the soap bubbles that had erupted from the now-broken-bubbly coral, a mushroom-like puff of lilac powder spewed from only inches away from Monet, creating a cloudy texture in front of her; both the bird and the fish wheezed and coughed in surprise.

 

As the color finally dissolved, Monet was faced with a purple mermaid on the spot where Keimi had just stood. Keimi's whole upper body and tail to some degree were all covered in the dusty substance and she looked perplexed, but certainly didn't act that way for long.

 

"Did you see that! I was going to take a grape from this bush and it blew up!" they both stared at the slowly hovering purple powder, "That was _mad_ cool!!"

 

Monet's forehead was wrinkled, "I just hope this isn't poisonous,"

 

And Monet burst out laughing, a wicked sound when Keimi's eyes turned from amazed to horrified and large as plates in a matter of nanoseconds, “I didn’t even think about that!"

 

Keimi was starting to breathe way too fast, but was thankfully brought to a stop by an explosion of pink color. After the cloud disappeared Keimi found Monet, now bright pink and with the edge of her wing folded tightly around the remnants of a pomegranate. Deadpan yet again, she had her eyes fixed on Keimi.

 

“Oops.”

 

Keimi’s mouth fell slowly, and she inhaled a slow breath.

 

“WHAT DID YOU DO THAT FOR?”

 

“Good riddance. Or just faster.”

 

“OH GOODNESS – MISS MONET!!” Keimi kept opening and closing her mouth at her, till finally-

 

“… pink really does suit you.”

 

“And you don’t look half bad in purple.”

 

The powder smelled of pine and stuck like glue to both of them despite the difference in skin texture. Monet studied the color on her wings closer, and couldn't help wondering for how long she would be tinted pink. “This is ridiculous. Feels like it won’t come off too easily.”

 

“Haha, uhm. Least you -we look cute?" Keimi sounded wary and was still coming down from the high of her fright, but she was way calmer than a moment ago, "Though I’m still iffy whether it's going to end up being dangerous to us."

 

"I was joking, Keimi. I doubt that this is a poisonous plant. Look at the shape of these leaves, they look nothing like the leaves of a poison oak or anything close to that, we discussed this earlier. Poisonous plants have a distinctive, kind of a rusty smell to them and they loosely follow the same pattern in form. And most of those try to be discreet with the whole 'hey look I'm deadly'-deal," her explanation was followed by an astonished gasp and Keimi stopped midway from trying to dust the powder off her arms.

 

"Gosh, miss Monet, I'm still just so blown away by how incredibly intelligent you are. I knew birds were smart creatures, but just, wow.."

 

Monet snickered happily, a new, rosy color surging under the pink that along her face currently covered her both wings, tail feathers and hair. And truth be told she didn't hate it that much anymore.

 

"Okay Pink- Purply? Ahah, I'd say we take as much fruits, nuts and whatnot with us to the shore, eat some and then get scrubbing this color away. Do you still have room in your bag?"

 

 

 


	5. DAY FIVE&SIX - Ships and Favorite attack

 

The way back to the shore took far less time than what the trip to the forest had (but of course, minus the waiting for the rain to stop). They had found quite the haul of food, picking so many veggies, beetles, mint and other herbs that Keimi's sack got full quickly, and they had to load some of the goods in the hem of the large skirt Monet was still wearing. It was midday and Sun was at its peak.

 

"Oooaahh! Look at the sand!" Keimi dropped the yellow bag to the ground and jumped the short way towards the sandy coast, Monet on her heels, "It shines as it were gold, how beautiful!"

 

The sand very much looked like it was covered in gold crumbs; the Sun was warming them and the beach fragment of the seaboard, and the ground started to burn Monet's feet shortly.

 

"Ak!" Keimi's tail too, apparently.

 

"It got hot really fast. You must feel wretched, your skin's drying as you told earlier, right?"

 

Keimi looked thoughtful, "Yeah, but I can manage for some time longer. Good thing it rained back then," she then took half of the stuff placed on Monet's skirt rim to her own arms, "We should finally eat something. I'm starving!"

 

So they ate. They saved most of the food for the rest of the day, but devoured a good amount of what consisted mostly of fruit. Keimi opted to leave for a swim post breakfast.

 

"You're not supposed to swim right after you've eaten," Monet wisecracked but regardless urged the fish to leave before it was 'too late'.

 

"I might take longer this time, so don't wait up," Keimi commanded her, and jumped straight to the clear water.

 

* * *

 

 

Monet didn't know what to do.

 

It had been something of an hour since Keimi had left and she still hadn't come back. Monet wasn't _exactly_ worried about her, but she did come to a conclusion that being stranded on an unfamiliar island was much more fun when you had someone there to accompany you.

 

She was utterly _bored_.

 

During the last hour, she had piled and un-piled their food rations several times in order of the species, or color, or size. She had drawn cute little scenarios and cartoony characters in the sand, and sunbathed in an attempt to get her wings in order. She had soaked the tip of her one wing in the water, and tried to rub the color off her tail feathers, but it only smeared some, so she didn't want to do the same technique with the clothes. She had tried to use her powers again. To her surprise the snow didn't melt this time, and she even managed to make up a small snowman to the beach - which then, sadly, melted to a puddle thanks to the warmth. She still couldn't fly, and up till now she had just been stepping through the beach restlessly.

 

The harpy had walked up to the end of the beach-area, when she happened to look up and something bright caught her eyes.

 

Up in what couldn't possibly be more than 60-or-so feet, she saw alluringly colored flowers in the crown of a tree and a fiery feeling coated her insides; she _needed_ to get those flowers for Keimi.

 

 

As she couldn't fly, she was left with only one option. She had to climb.

 

When she'd been younger, she had climbed trees all the time. She hadn't been too good at flying at that point, so getting to places (high places) required skills in the field of wing-claw-cooperation.

 

In her defense it had been twenty years since she had last had to climb anywhere.

 

(So _what_ if it took her eight and a half tries to get to the first branch? Least she got herself there.)

 

From there on out everything went swell. Sure, she got stuck three times and scared a bird mother, but it didn't take her more than 15 minutes! And she absolutely did succeed in not tearing up the clothes Keimi had lent her. That was the real miracle.

 

And once more, Monet was sitting at the top of a tree.

 

The flowers were so brilliantly colored up close, she totally forgot to question the fact they grew from a tree. They were radiantly yellow, mixed with shades of orange and dark purple, and the color scheme followed the pattern of the actual tree.

 

She secured the flowers inside her shirt when she started to climb back down. She passed the same bird again, and only got stuck once this time. Landing, she still had all her feathers, clothes and flowers intact.

 

The bird had learned to make flower crowns with her sister, but she had nailed it merely once. The flowers had long stalks, but there had only been so many of them that she had no place to fail, and she had to get it right on the first try.

 

* * *

 

 

Keimi came back half an hour later. She seemed refreshed and pleased, and she shouted a chirpy greeting to her. Monet smiled crookedly and yelled a sharp 'Hi' to her too. But something was off with the way the mermaid appeared.

 

"Keimi... there's something off about you," Monet started but realized immediately, "Oh my god, your hair!"

 

"I know!"

 

"It's so stinking cute!?"

 

" _I_ _know_!!" Keimi took Monet's wings in her hands and jumped up and down enthusiastically, short hair bouncing airily along.

 

Her light green hair's ends had stayed purple, and the color was more vivid compared to before she had gone to the water. Monet thought that the color from the top had probably spread to the ends, and intensified the color.

 

"Gosh, I didn't think it was possible for you to get any cuter," Monet murmured, making Keimi look bashfully away and dust non-existent lint from Monet's wings. She didn't say anything, but soon she did smile playfully at Monet again, and lead her towards the waterline by wing, "Come on, let's try this on you too!"

 

 

Monet dared to dip her head to the water from the shore, and it only took them two tries that the color started to dissolve and move lower down from the roots. She was very happy with the result and Keimi said she loved it too, so that was a definite plus.

 

For the rest of the afternoon Monet absolutely couldn't keep her eyes or hands to herself anymore. At any given point when it didn't seem too suspicious, she helped Keimi to reach something, or guided her by the hand, and basically just stared at her. She also got curious about the reasons behind why the short mermaid needed a maxi skirt in the first place and if the shirt came in her size.

 

The story behind the skirt turned out to be on the sad-side, and Monet inwardly cursed herself for bringing it up. _Humans always went ahead and ruined the fun from everybody_ , she thought bitterly.

 

"But enough of all that, hah," Keimi said a little uncomfortably, "Actually, that shirt is a design of mine, the first one to be precise."

 

That made the bird take another look at the shirt, "I didn't know you designed clothes?" she said, astonished.

 

"Well I don't. Yet. You see, me and Pappug - the starfish - have been thinking about getting into the wave of fashion. He has already started, and done it for a good while and he's teaching me on the side. So far he just hasn't hit his prime, but he's getting there! We're getting there!"

 

"Well far as I'm concerned, you're getting there in no time. This is honestly such an adorable shirt, the only negative thing about it comes from it being so tight on me."

 

"Oh! I could make one of these designated for you! Yeah, bigger armholes and a bigger size in general! Could I get your measurements?" She was rummaging around her sack now, and took out a pencil and a notebook.

 

Monet had no problem telling those to the girl, but there was one dilemma however, which she didn't want to bring up. So she didn't.

 

After that they just talked. Monet noted how easy it was to chat with Keimi, even if her eyes kept wandering and spacing out.

 

Keimi had mesmerizing eyes.

 

They were a dark brown, and Monet felt like she could be drowning in them if she stared directly at her for too long. The eyes had a sparkle in them, and Monet couldn't pick up an ounce of 'bad' in her gaze. Keimi got crow's feet when she smiled.

 

Keimi had a good face.

 

* * *

 

 

Night fell upon them. It wasn't that dark as of yet, but regardless they made a new bonfire. Keimi taught her to light a fire, which was harder than what it had looked. They moved the food closer to the fire, and also carried soft, dry leaves and other plants in the shape of a mattress for the coming night close by ("But not too close! We're gonna catch fire that way").  

 

They had found corn cobs from the forest, so Monet wanted to make popcorn for Keimi, who had never had those. They roasted bugs, corn and some vegetables too on the fire, feasted on those (Keimi liked the popcorn), and finally darkness engulfed them.

 

"Keimi, don't move. There are fireflies in your hair." Monet whispered when three landed on the fish's head. Her face fell, but she tried not to move.

 

"Could you - could you maybe take them off, please? I'm kinda freaked out about those."

 

"Oh, shit sorry!" Monet did as she was asked, and the bugs flew away, "I wouldn't have guessed you're scared of fireflies," she said, conversationally, as she didn't want to sound douchey.

 

"Yeah, well. Not scared, per se. I just can't stand the concept. Like I don't wanna have to eat anything that glows," she explained, and Monet snorted - how douchey of her.

 

"Sorry, sorry, I get it. Hey, guess what, I've always wondered this; do starfish glow in the dark?" This time Keimi laughed.

 

"They don't!? HONESTLY, WHAT A WASTE." 

 

The two giggled in fits until they were out of breath and calmed down. They were laying on the make-shift mattress side to side. Somehow they had ended up there on their backs after dinner, and now - as they were full and done laughing - they stared at the stars, that kept popping in the dark night sky. They were content and silent, every once in a while pointing out a constellation they recognized. Monet then remembered the flower crown.

 

"Hey, I have something for you!" She yelped, got up and told Keimi to wait a second. Then she ran to the edge of the forest, where she had hidden the crown. It was in one piece and free of fireflies.

 

Monet felt like trying out something before heading back. She peeked from behind the tree she had left her creation to, and saw Keimi dug her backbag. _Great._

 

Surprising herself, she managed to create an arm to where her wing had been. It wasn't perfect, and the wing did not disappear wholly - as usual, but it wasn't melting, so she decided to keep it. It felt really great being able to use her powers again and she walked back giddy.

 

"Whatcha smiling about?" Keimi asked when the bird sat down, her snow-hand hidden along the crown of flowers behind her back. Keimi had her hand in the bag, but Monet didn't note it at first.

 

The flower crown fell to the mermaid's head with a soft thud.

 

"Wh-" Keimi lifted her free hand to her head, and felt the flowers. Her mouth opened wide and she took the crown off for a second to view the flowers in it, before putting it back on, mouth still open.

 

"Fireflies are gonna speed in soon," and that shut Keimi's mouth.

 

"Those are the most gorgeous, most _elegant_ flowers I think I've ever seen, where did you _find_ them?" stars were dancing in her eyes again, causing Monet's heart jump to her throat, and she could feel the not-so-unpleasant pounding in her ears.

 

"Would you believe me if I said I climbed to a treetop to get those from there?" And Monet knew Keimi would believe her.

 

"Ah this is perfect! I have something for you too. Close your eyes," and Monet swore her heart leaped a double back-flip and stopped entirely. Her hand had somehow still escaped Keimi's sight, and she could feel it start to water for various reasons. "O- Ok," she said dutifully and closed her fluttering eyelids.

 

The smell of Keimi invaded her personal space, and she didn't mind it one bit. The flowers mixed with the earthy smell of the girl and Monet was unbelievably nervous.

 

Keimi moved Monet's pink-green hair out of her face with a single finger and draped it behind her ear. And something was shakily placed on her nose, and she opened her eyes rapidly, "My glasses!"

 

Keimi was so close to her, that she almost tumbled back when Monet's eyes flared open. Her face was flush, and she smiled gently.

 

"How did you - oh they're practically intact! - wait, is this why you took so long while swimming?" Keimi simply grinned at that and nodded. Monet threw her wing and hand in a hug, and embraced Keimi, who wrapped her hands around the tall bird and let her lift her off the ground. Monet had time to spin her around once, before she noticed the hand that gripped her.

 

"WAAAIT, wait wait wait!" she threw her hands up so now it was just the bird holding her with one wing and an arm, and a sneaky smile.

 

"Finally you noticed! I'm a little hurt you took so long to regard it," she was smiling a full-blown teethy smile and her eyes looked down to the hand. She held Keimi with her wing only, and brought the hand to the front for Keimi to inspect. She seemed to struggle to take in all of this. The flowers were tilted to her eyes.

 

"You, what. What happened to the wing, miss Monet I don't understand, I'm-"

 

"It's snow! And, uh surprise!" Monet mimicked 'jazz-hands' with the one hand she had, "I'm a Devil Fruit user! A snow-woman, look at this," and she swung her hand a tad, and it shattered small pieces of snow in the air, snowflakes. The snow grew back to her arm, and Keimi's eyes were like saucers.

 

"Oh! Oh!!" Her own hands shot to her cheeks first, and then to Monet's shoulders and finally to touch the chilly, frosty arm. Her eyes kept getting bigger and then smaller as she moved her hand over the 'prosthetic'. Monet felt a pang of pride, and then the warmth of Keimi started to make the arm drip water.

 

"Oh shoot, I'm sorry!" Keimi's hands fell to her sides in a rush, but Monet took a hold of the other before she could pull it away completely, "No, no, it's alright. Look, your hand print stuck to it," the shape of her hands was imprinted to Monet's snowy arm. Monet tore her eyes away from it in a matter of seconds in order to entangle her fingers carefully in Keimi's two-toned hair.

 

Keimi shuddered to the touch, draping her arms to Monet's shoulders. She looked down, and Monet's eyes watched back and both of them were silent.

 

"Do you... still wanna see my teeth?" Monet broke the stillness of the moment with a mischievous grin, "Darling?"

 

The mermaid was completely red in the face when she nodded carefully.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 'Humans always went ahead and ruined the fun from everybody' I'm not trying to make "a statement", or anything ((lmao)), I'm just referring to the happenings : -) in sabaody ....: - )
> 
>  
> 
> Fic's theme is more of a 'general' but this is a shipfic all in all.. and I know it's not exactly an attack, but I just love the headcanon of her being able to form hands out of snow??? THANKS FOR THAT


End file.
